The present invention relates to a networking card and to a method of sending a networking card.
All greetings cards and postcards known to the applicant are merely intended to be sent or given by a single sender or giver to a single recipient, where the sender or giver and the recipient are each always a different person or group or corporation of persons. As such, the sender or giver of known greetings cards and postcards always knows or knows of the recipient to whom he or she is sending or giving the card, and the recipient may not necessarily be in a different location from the sender or giver. By definition, the message in, or the content of, a greetings card or postcard received by a recipient is always fully predetermined by a single sender before the card is sent or given.
It is desirable to provide a card in which the message can be supplemented or modified. It is also desirable to provide a card that can be sent and received by a plurality of individuals in series, for the purpose of establishing a network between those individuals.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a networking card which can be circulated by repeated physical postings amongst a dispersed network or group of people, each of whom can add to or alter the contents of the card, prior to the card being finally received by an ultimate recipient. Another objective is to provide a networking card which can be sent by an initial sender to himself or herself indirectly via an intermediate network or group of dispersed people, who do not necessarily all know or know of each other.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a networking card, the networking card comprising a plurality of pages for bearing at least one of a greeting or other message, a drawing and an object added to the networking card by successive recipients of the networking card.
The networking card can be purchased by an initial sender. That person can add a message to a first page of the card and then send the card to a first recipient. The first recipient in turn can add his or her own message to the card, for example on a second page of the card, and then send the card on to a second recipient. The process can be repeated until for example all of the pages have been used. In this way, a card is provided which facilitates xe2x80x9cnetworkingxe2x80x9d of people, i.e. it allows for the exchange of ideas, information, contacts or experiences amongst a dispersed group or network of people, for a variety of social and professional purposes. For example, the card can be used to develop joint ideas or projects, to make new friends or professional contacts, to sell or search for items amongst friends, and friends of friends, write collaborative stories, or play new games. The card can be used as part of a fund-raising exercise, for example for charity.
The card may have a page or other region on the card for bearing the name and address of the intended ultimate recipient of the card. The initial sender can insert the name and address of the intended ultimate recipient of the card on the page or region provided. The ultimate recipient may be the initial sender or some other person.
It will be understood that when a card is xe2x80x9csentxe2x80x9d from one person to another, the card will typically be sent by means of a postal service (whether a state-run postal service or a private postal or courier or other physical delivery service).
Objects, such as photographs, small gifts or the like, may be added to the card by senders.
The card can be used for various purposes, as discussed in more detail below. Briefly, the card can be used as part of a game, in telling a story, as part of a fund-raising exercise for example for charity, or to provide a commemorative gift or memento. Competitions could be held to find the longest card, the card that has been through the most countries, etc. Such competitions could simply be for fun, or may be sponsored with prizes being given, or for fund-raising for example for charity.
The card can be used in a xe2x80x9cself-returningxe2x80x9d manner for example where the card is sent on from one person to another until eventually it is sent on from the last recipient to the initial sender. In this usage, consecutive recipients/senders (though possibly with the exception of the last recipient and the initial sender) will normally always know each other and all recipients/senders will therefore be friends of friends of each other without all of them necessarily knowing each other. In this usage also, the card can be initiated by a sender for or on behalf of someone else to whom the completed card can eventually be sent by the last recipient. In this usage, the ultimate recipient may appropriately be a mutual friend of the initial sender and the first recipient.
By way of another example, the card can be used in a xe2x80x9cnon-returningxe2x80x9d manner where the card is always initiated for someone else and circulated amongst a network or group of people all of whom already know or are connected with each other. This second usage may be particularly desirable where the card is used to provide a single memento of some special occasion by a group of people who are all in geographically separated locations. For example, an important anniversary or other event in a family may be commemorated by sending the card successively from one family member to another, with each family member adding a personal message relating to the anniversary or other event, with the card finally arriving in the post as a joint commemorative gift to the ultimate recipient(s).
The card may have pockets or adhesive pads or some other means allowing photographs, small gifts, etc to be inserted into the card by individual recipients.
The card may have a portion for bearing name and address details of an initial sender of the card. As mentioned above, the initial sender may be the ultimate recipient.
The card may comprise a connector for connecting the card to another networking card or to an extension card. This allows the card to be extended by adding further cards if necessary or desired to provide an extended card having further pages. The further cards may be substantially identical to the first card. The connector may be provided on a rear cover of the card. The connector may be provided on a front cover of the card. A connector may be provided on both a front cover and a rear cover of the card. This allows the networking card to be extended, in principle as many times as desired, by adding further cards to provide a composite extendible networking card having further pages.
The connector may comprise an adhesive. The connector may comprise a detachable protective cover. The detachable protective cover can be removed to allow the networking card to be securely connected to another networking card. Alternatively, the detachable protective cover can be removed and reversed to disable the connector. The initial sender can disable the connector before sending the networking card to a first recipient, in which case the networking card may be sent to the ultimate recipient as soon as all of the pages have been used. As mentioned above, the initial sender may be the ultimate recipient. If the connector has not been disabled, a second networking card can be purchased and connected to the first networking card by an intermediate recipient/sender or by the final recipient of the first networking card, and the process can continue with the extended composite networking card. The composite networking card can be extended again in the same manner.
The initial sender and intermediate recipients/senders of the single or composite networking card may each also insert their own name and address details on the card. In this case they may receive the circulating card back again with a message from a subsequent recipient/sender whom they may or may not know. They may then themselves re-use the card to reply to the known or unknown sender, or re-send the card to another known or unknown intermediate recipient/sender on the network, or send the card to a new known recipient who is not on the network. Therefore, a postal networking card may not always circulate in simple circles. Alternatively or additionally, recipients/senders may add their telephone or fax numbers or e-mail addresses, in which case they may also receive or initiate separate parallel communication with other recipients/senders on the evolving network. It is not necessary for the initial sender or intermediate recipients/senders to provide any personal details on the networking card in order to create a new network of people or to participate in a postal networking card.
The single or composite networking card can be used to exchange ideas, information, contacts or experiences amongst a dispersed group or network of people, for a variety of social and professional purposes. For example, the card can be used to develop joint ideas or projects, to make new friends or professional contacts, to sell or search for items amongst friends, and friends of friends, write collaborative stories, or play new games. The card can also be used from time to time to build into singular national or international events, to mark major occasions or promote current issues, raising awareness and also funds. Such events may attract media coverage and generate competitions to find for example the longest or most amusing or most multinational card. Such events may be initiated for charity fundraising purposes, for example for disaster relief. In such usage, it may be necessary or desirable that networking cards are extended several times and special extension cards may be provided to facilitate the process.
The networking card may comprise one or more tokens for affixing to a page or other portion of the card. The page or other portion may be detachable. Where a connector with a detachable protective cover is provided, a token or tokens can be affixed to the detachable protective cover of the connector, which in this usage will not normally be disabled. A token or tokens can also be affixed to a detachable page or portion or corresponding detachable protective cover of another networking card, by recipients/senders of a networking card who themselves purchase new networking cards to start up new networks. The tokens provided with a networking card might be non-matching. After a sufficient number of tokens have been affixed to a networking card, the detachable page or portion or protective cover containing the tokens can be detached and redeemed at a retailer in exchange for a special (non-purchasable) extension card, which can then be affixed by means of the exposed adhesive connector on the completed card.
The special (non-purchasable) extension card allows the first networking card to be extended without a new card having to be purchased by an individual recipient/sender of the networking card merely for the purpose of extending the networking card. A special (non-purchasable) extension card can be obtained and added to the networking card by any intermediate recipient/sender as soon as the required number of appropriate tokens have been affixed to a networking card.
The special (non-purchasable) extension card may be substantially identical to the networking card described previously, comprising a connector on the rear cover of the extension card for connecting the extended composite networking card to another networking card or to another special (non-purchasable) extension card. As the composite networking card circulates, it can re-acquire further redeemable tokens if subsequent recipients/senders purchase and start up their own networking cards on receipt of the extended composite networking card. This allows the networking card to be extended, in principle as many times as desired, without any individual recipient/sender having to purchase a new card merely for the purpose of extending the networking card.
However, special (non-purchasable) extension cards may be noticeably different from purchasable networking cards. For example they may have a blank front cover, which may also be made of thinner material, and the whole special extension card may be made in a distinctively different colour. These visible differences are intended to deter recipients/senders of a networking card from using freely obtained extension cards to start up new networking cards of their own, instead of attaching the special extension card to the networking card from which the redeemable tokens have been obtained. Given the socially interactive nature of networking cards, it is expected that recipients/senders will be unlikely to start up their own networking cards at the expense of someone else""s networking card in which they feature. This is particularly so where special (non-purchasable) extension cards are employed for large-scale charity fundraising events.
Networking cards can in any event be extended repeatedly without the use of tokens or special (non-purchasable) extension cards, as described previously.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided in combination, a networking card as described above, an extension card, and a connector for connecting the extension card to the networking card thereby to provide an extended networking card, the extension card comprising a plurality of pages each for bearing at least one of a greeting or other message, a drawing and an object added to the extended networking card by successive recipients of the extended networking card.
The extension card allows the original card to be extended, in principle as many times as desired. It may be that the initial sender knows how many recipients will receive the card and will ensure that an initial extended card having sufficient pages is initially sent. Alternatively, an intermediate or a final recipient of a card can extend the original card by adding the extension card. Further extension cards can be added as desired.
The connecting means may conveniently comprise an adhesive provided on at least one of the networking card and the extension card for adhering the networking card and the extension card together.
One or more further extension cards and connecting means for connecting the extension cards together may be provided.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of sending a networking card to plural recipients, the networking card comprising a plurality of pages for bearing at least one of a greeting or other message, a drawing and an object added to the networking card by successive recipients of the networking card, the method comprising the steps of:
(A) a sender sending the networking card to a recipient;
(B) said recipient receiving said card, adding at least one of a greeting or other message, a drawing and an object to the networking card, and then sending said networking card to a further recipient;
(C) the further recipient adding at least one of a greeting or other message, a drawing and an object to the networking card, and then sending said networking card to a recipient; and,
(D) repeating steps (B) and (C) until each of the pages of the networking card bear at least one of a greeting or other message, a drawing and an object.
Again, it will be understood that when a card is xe2x80x9csentxe2x80x9d from one person to another, the card will typically be sent by means of a postal service (whether a state-run postal service or a private postal or courier or other delivery service).
The name and address of the intended ultimate recipient may be added by the initial sender. The intended ultimate recipient may be the initial sender.
The method may comprise the further step of connecting an extension card to the networking card to form an extended networking card, the extension card comprising a plurality of pages each for bearing at least one of a greeting or other message, a drawing and an object added to the extended networking card by successive recipients of the extended networking card, and repeating steps (B) and (C) using said extended networking card in place of the original networking card.
The networking card may comprise a connector for connecting the networking card to another card, the method comprising the further step of connecting the networking card to another card to form an extended networking card, and repeating steps (B) and (C) using said extended networking card in place of the original networking card.
The method may comprise the step of affixing a token to a page or other portion of the networking card prior to sending the networking card to a recipient.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of sending a networking card to plural recipients, the networking card comprising a plurality of pages for bearing at least one of a greeting or other message, a drawing and an object added to the networking card by successive recipients of the networking card, the method comprising the steps of:
(A) a sender sending the networking card to a recipient;
(B) said recipient receiving said networking card;
(C) said recipient connecting the networking card to another networking card or to an extension card to form an extended networking card; and,
(D) said recipient sending said extended networking card to a further recipient.
The method preferably comprises the step of at least one of said recipient and a further recipient adding at least one of a greeting or other message, a drawing and an object to the networking card and then sending said extended networking card to a further recipient.